Playstation 3 Update Permanently Removes OS Install

Corporate sabotage? Linux-haters? Call it what you will, but it's going to happen - and soon. That is, Sony's planned firmware update that removes the "install other OS" feature from all older PS3s to match the features of the newer PS3 Slim. While it's being highly touted as a needed "security" measure, us DIYers who have had our fingers crossed waiting for the day Boxee would make its way onto the platform can only find ourselves cursing obscenities as Sony destroys yet another great feature on older generation PS3's.

The planned Firmware 3.21 is set to come out this Thursday, April 1st, and while we're truly hoping this is some sort of April Fool's Joke, many official sources (including Sony Playstation Europe have ruled out as such).

While the GPU and Blu-ray had been previously blocked, making the PS3 already a very difficult system to hack into a DIY media server from the inside out, the removal of the option to install an OS entirely can only be described as ridiculous and may pave the way for a nicely packaged lawsuit for those angry users who've been stringing the systems together as clusters.

However, if you choose not to upgrade, you lose even more features, such as the ability to access PlayStation Network and play games online, watch certain Blu-ray videos, and experience all the "planned enhancements the 3.21 firmware promises to bring."

So, uh... we also hear 3.4 will remove support for DVD playback, and 4.0 removes support for Blu-ray. This will ensure the success of the new PS3 Go, right?